Within
by pxwerpxff
Summary: Takes place sometime after 5x09. Jackie has just received the news that her mom is not coming back and finds herself struggling more than she ever thought capable. Will Steven and the gang help her through it, even when she is at her worst? J/H
1. Chapter 1

**A/N **

**Hey guys! This is my first story so its kinda bad but its fine. I love That 70s Show, especially Jackie and Hyde and season 8 never existed. Anyways this is most likely a two-shot but can maybe become a multi-chap or something IDK. This takes place a few months after 5x09 so they're all still in high school. Tell me what you think! **

Jackie absent-mindedly bit down on her nails as her gut slowly twisted tightly inside her. Normally, she'd be disgusted by the thought of her chewing her own nails and even risking chipping away at her brand-new manicure, but she couldn't stop herself. She hardly even cared. Her heart was starting to beat out of her chest and her breathing got shakier with each breath she took which was supposed to be calming her down but was failing. She paced around outside the bottom landing of the basement steps. The only clear image running through her mind was Steven.

She needed to tell him. He was her boyfriend and he had a right to know. He's sadly also been through this before, knows the swirl of dark thoughts and insecurities that come from being left by your own parents. The people who brought her into this world. Supposed to protect her. Care for her. At the very least supposed to give a damn about her. Maybe Steven would be able to talk her through her feelings and tell her that it was gonna be okay. That the reeling chaos inside her brain wasn't going to last forever. She hoped it wouldn't. She doesn't think she could bear it.

Jackie thought back to her sitting alone in her pink bedroom just three nights ago. She was sitting on her bed and listening to her Captain and Tennille record. She was combing through the latest issue of Cosmo and was so fixated on the article titled 'Top 5 Signs He's in Love with You'. She had proclaimed her love for Steven Hyde a little over two months ago and had still she got nothing from him. She knew it was hard for him to admit his love for her because the "I love you"s said between Bud and Edna were nothing but empty and meaningless. And she tried to understand and be a patient girlfriend. But saying patience wasn't her strong suit was the understatement of the decade. She just wanted to know if he felt the same and quick because it was eating her alive. She remembers thinking back to her own parents and starting to question if their proclamations of love meant anything and if the decline in the frequency of the phrase between to two was a good thing or a bad thing. It was then when she felt a familiar darkness within her, the same one that had been trying to consume her from the past few months. Just at that moment, the ring of her desk phone interrupted her thoughts. Hoping it might be Steven, she picked up the phone by the second ring. But instead of the deep and gruff voice of her boyfriend, she was greeted by the voice of her mother.

_"__Jackie, Darling?" _were the only words that came through the phone. The first words she had heard from her in months.

All her feelings from a moment ago were forgotten as the pent-up feelings of hate she had gathered towards her mother in the past few months and from many years of maternal neglect resurfaced as a white-hot flash throughout every nerve ending in her body.

"Mom? Is that really you? I thought they didn't have phones in Acapulco" Jackie responded with sarcasm dripping from her voice. "Because I don't see any other reason you would ignore your only daughter after her father was thrown in jail and she was left home alone for 5 months".

She was more than angry. She was downright _pissed_. She couldn't even begin to channel the anger she felt as she was reminded of the struggle of having to fend for herself in her own home. Having to deal with sleepless nights because she was kept awake by every creek, moan, and shadow of the large Burkhart mansion. Having to fire her maid and her only company, Marissa, because she could no longer pay her paycheck. Having to pretend she wasn't hungry after a day of school whenever she was offered to stay over at the Forman's for dinner right before accepting their invitation anyway because it was the "polite" thing to do and not because she hadn't eaten since the night before. And the worst of all, having to hide it all from the Forman's, the gang, and even her beloved Steven. She couldn't let them know what life has been like for her recently. She was Jackie Burkhart, and Burkhart's didn't have tough times.

_"__No need to be hostile Jaqueline, and just so you are aware, I left Acapulco three weeks ago. The men there got to be such a bore…" _

"No surprise there", Jackie not so discreetly mumbled. "You know, you said you were coming straight home to Wisconsin right after Daddy got caught"

_"__I know dear, and I meant to I swear, but you know how things are." _ Her mother let out her traditional condescending airheaded laugh which put Jackie over the edge.

"No, I _don't_ know how they are!" she nearly sobbed.

_"__Well, it's very hard for me to stay away from the glamorous life as you should know by now. And honey maybe if you carried the Burkhart genes of being the only thing men desired, you would understand it a little better. I know you have that boy Michael, and yes, he's mighty fine but I don't think he has the capability of making you millions."_

"Mom, Michael and I…" she started with frustration before being cut off.

_"__Well anyway, I just called to tell you that I think you're old enough to not need me anymore. I can tell your doing just fine on your own and to be honest I'm just having the grandest time._ "Jackie began to hear loud rustling and undecipherable voices over the phone. _"Oh dear, I'm sorry to say I have to go. Javier is taking me to lunch. Kisses!" _And with that, the line went dead.

For the next three minutes, Jackie sat on her bed in utter shock. Coming back to her senses, she wiped away the tears that she didn't even know she had cried only to find she couldn't' stop them from coming. As the silent tears streamed down her face as she finally came to the realization that what she had been fearing for the past months had come true. Her mom had abandoned her. Maybe Pam was right all along, that she doesn't deserve to be loved, not even by her parents. They had wanted to get away from her so badly that they went to embezzle 60,000 dollars from the city and hideaway in a booze-filled Latin American country, not ever to return. She felt numb.

Jackie was slowly brought back to reality, getting herself mentally prepared to waltz into the basement as her usual cheerful self. She then planned that she would discreetly ask Steven to meet in his room so that she could tell him about her mom. Maybe he could save her from the personal hell she was living.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N**

**Hey guys! Sorry it took so long to update! Senior year and everything else going on has kept me pretty busy. Idk if you guys are still interested in this, but if you are, here you go! Remember to let me know ****what you think! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own that 70s show or its characters.**

Right before Jackie's hand touched the doorknob, she stopped. She hadn't visited the basement in three days let alone stopped long enough in the hallways to have an actual conversation with them at school. They were bound to know something was up. She was basically a social butterfly, and everyone knew that she craved attention so they probably thought she couldn't wait to chat about her sudden absence. And she did love it. The attention. But not when the attention came from something so humiliating and depressing. She knew she would be bombarded with questions about her whereabouts and considering her current state, she doesn't know if she could handle that now without losing it. _Just focus on Steven, _she told herself. Regaining her courage, Jackie slowly opened the basement door and walked inside.

She looked around and saw Donna lounging in her usual spot on the worn-down sofa, casually flipping through the magazine in her hands. Fez was playing paddleball and looked somewhat upset that he kept missing.

_Good_, she thought. _Everything's how it normally is. _Just then Fez had noticed Jackie was standing next to him.

He stopped his pathetic game and gasped, "My goddess! I haven't seen you in so long!"

"Been busy" Jackie answered casually. "I know you might not know because you've never been popular, but its a lot of work. Takes up a lot of time and energy" she reasoned with Fez.

"Oh, you are right Jackie. I do not know" he frowned slightly.

Fez, however, quickly lost interest in her and once again became invested in his game. "Okay ball and paddle, you will not beat me anymore" he proclaimed as he began another series of failed attempts.

Jackie rolled her eyes as she moved away from the door and began to make her way across the room.

Donna looked up from her magazine and came to the same realization that Fez had a second ago.

"Yeah Jackie, its been kinda weird. I think I have missed you calling me _lumberjack_ this week, which is something I never thought I would even say…" Donna's face gave into a puzzled look at the sudden realization.

"Donna, don't worry. The second the weekend hits and you start wearing your normal clothes instead of your uniform, you'll hear it again." Jackie nodded honestly.

"Yay, me" answered Donna sarcastically with a faint laugh. "No, but seriously, What's been keeping you so busy?" She said as she flipped to the next page in her magazine and began reading over it.

Jackie looked around nervously searching for a reason.

"Umm …. cheerleading!" She decided on. "Yeah, uh, there was this huge debate on Tuesday on whether we should get new uniforms and it had the team split in half in making a decision. It required all my undivided attention". Jackie nodded to herself as she was pretty satisfied with her own answer.

"Yeah this is why I was never a cheerleader"

"Yeah, that's why" Jackie quipped sarcastically.

Donna, finished with Jackie's antics, turned her head back to her magazine and the basement returned to silence. Jackie stood there kind of awkwardly. She began to wonder if Steven had been questioning her absence as well. She had talked to him over the phone on Monday night after her mother called but it was only to say goodnight and they had only really talked about their days in the broad sense. It ended up being a short conversation and Jackie had tried her best to make everything seem perfectly normal. She kinda hoped he had bought her performance.

Its not that Jackie was worried that Steven would brush Jackie off as overreacting about her mom, if anything he would say that she was _under-reacting_. She was just worried that he would start treating her differently and even worse, _pity her_. Jackie Burkhart did not need pity because she is a very strong and capable individual who had everything under control. She was also worried that Steven would tell the Formans and that would _really_ start to blow things out of proportion.

She was pulled from her thoughts when she suddenly heard two voices coming down the stairs into the basement, the voice in which belonged to Eric and her boyfriend.

"I'm telling you again, man. Leia has eyes for Han, not Luke. You can just tell." Steven said as he made it the basement floor and over to the freezer for a popsicle.

"Believe what you want my friend, just know that you're wrong" Eric cheerfully and confidently responded.

With his popsicle, Hyde made his way over to his chair and sat down.

"Whatever, man"

Jackie casually walked up to Steven in his chair before he got a chance to notice her presence.

_Play it cool _she thought. _Everything is perfectly fine, _she tried to convince herself for the fiftieth time since her last conversation with her mom.

"Hey" she said, quickly pulling his attention away from his frozen treat. She noticed his demeanor slightly change from annoyed at his conversation with Eric to slightly surprised and concerned.

"Hey, whats up?. Uh, I haven't seen you since Monday when you went home. We were kind of getting worried" he said casually.

"Aww, look at that Donna." Said Eric pulling the redhead's attention. "Little Hyde missed his little girlfriend" said Eric in a baby voice as he began to chuckle. Donna, also thinking it was funny to see Hyde playing the concerned boyfriend role, joined in his antics.

"Get bent" Hyde barked towards his giggling friends. Blocking them out, Hyde returned to face Jackie. Jackie, in the meantime, had made her way to side on the arm of the couch, facing his chair.

"Seriously, everything okay?" he said, shifting a little uncomfortably in his chair but still managing to meet her eyes.

While Steven tried to hide it, his obvious worry over her spotty attendance this week made her heart flutter as she knew he cared. The thought of it made her smile. The smile slowly faded away as she remembered what she had wanted to tell him.

"Actually, um…" Jackie started.

She then started remembering her worries from before. She couldn't say it. The words just wouldn't come out. They showed weakness and Jackie Burkhart would not allow anyone, especially her boyfriend to see her as weak. She was _anything_ but weak. The last few months had proved that.

She picked up her sentence when he looked concerned that she had stopped. "Just been a little busy with school. Its kinda made it hard to make time to come over." She lied. Well, it wasn't an exact lie…. The cheerleaders this week really have been pushing her more than normal. They said she had been slacking in the routine, which she knew was absolutely not true because she was the best one on that squad. Though to prove them wrong, she had been working a little extra to show them up. While it hadn't really been the reason she had been so preoccupied lately, it relieved her to know that she wasn't completely lying.

"Okay," he answered. He didn't look completely convinced though. He made a note to ask later.

"Well, how 'bout you and me go down to the Hub? We can talk there if you want."

Not really wanting to talk about her situation just yet, she considered saying no. But Jackie longed to catch up for the time they had lost with each other in the past two and a half days. He was also being really sweet…

"Yeah, sure." She decided.

She smiled up at him as he got up and helped her off the couch. Casually taking her hand, Hyde began to guide Jackie with him to the door.

"Later" he threw back at the gang as they made their way out the door.

While Jackie was slightly nervous about the conversation that may lay ahead, she couldn't help but be excited as they made their way to the Camino. Also, she was starving.


End file.
